Songs All Around
by flax
Summary: Set after the final novel in an impossibly happy AU, Apprentice Hermione invents a new potion by mistake.


Title: There Were Songs All Around  
Author: flax  
Date written: October 13, 2005; updated: June 21, 2006

This fiction is AU, being placed after the final book and presuming an impossibly happy ending.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, the characters and elements of his universe belong to J. K. Rowling. I intend to make no profits nor to give any offense.

"It's a birth, It's a birth, great, it's a birth, and I'm stuck here stirring the great and wonderful potion," thought Hermione with an unusual amount of chagrin. She'd worked hard to get this apprenticeship, and Snape had been decent, so things were going fine.

But still, it seemed the reward for working hard was that she was missing the fun in town where everyone was celebrating Ginny & Harry's first children, a pair of twins. Reported to be adorable. Hermione wanted to see them for herself. She was Auntie Hermione, after all.

Fortunately, this potion was reputedly immune to the emotional state of the brewer.

A knock came upon the door and as Hermione called in whatever hapless student was about to be shredded on the altar of her boredom, Draco Malfoy entered.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, stating the obvious.

"I hate the world, I hate the whole world," chanted Hermione.

"Errrrr, is that a potion that uses incantations?"

"I hate the locket, I hate the pocket, I hate the chocolate. I hate the world now," finished Hermione.

The potion turned a fascinating shade of blue.

Hermione stopped griping and started worrying. The experimental fertilizer potion for the chiming Orchids could often turn colors on the spectrum of orange and yellow.

This was blue.

Blue is not often thought to exist on the spectrum between orange and yellow.

"That looks like the frosting of the cake for the twins," commented Malfoy, helpfully.

"I wanted to go."

Malfoy waved his wand and suddenly Hermione was standing there, still tired, but wearing a giant voluminous ball gown complete with glass slippers and thousands of twinkling beads.

"I've got a pumpkin outside," he said cheerily.

"I should ask Snape, actually," she said, disgruntled.

"Great, then come to the party and talk to him there!" said Malfoy, beaming at his own logic.

"I'm not wearing this dress."

"Yes. Too practical. Let's make it gaudier."

Hermione ignored that, waved her wand, and managed a shift into one of her actual party dresses. Dresses which hadn't gotten alot of use. Not nearly enough at all.

"You need to get out more," mentioned her boyfriend.

"I talked Snape into taking me on..." she began. Draco returned with his usual response that Snape was damn lucky to have her help at all. She replied something about apprenticeship traditions, to which he responded something about tradition only being there to help. Meanwhile, and this was new to this conversation, the caldron started bubbling with great rich blue bubbles in some thick liquid.

"Seriously, what is it?" asked Draco, interrupting their usual riff.

"I don't know," said Hermione, pulling it off the fire, pulling out the catalyst stone, wondering why the potion seemed to still be moving toward a change.

Draco bravely ladled some into a cup and tried running some spells on it. He laughed, and drank some while Hermione horrified protested. When Draco danced over to her, and sang "On the Street Where You Live" with the sound of an orchestra backing him, Hermione did not become much happier.

"?-?-?-," said Hermione, tongue tied.

"It makes you sing show tunes. We _have_ to take this with us and spike the punch!" said Draco.

"I don't want to hear everyone sing show tunes," said Hermione.

"I want to see them blame Fred and George for making them sing show tunes," said Draco with an evil smile.

Cinderella thought about this for a moment, and then decided, yes, she would let Draco take her to the ball, with a flask of show-tune-crooning-juice along. Because there is nothing like getting Fred and George in trouble for a prank they didn't even know how to pull.

"I bet they take credit for it," groused Hermione.

Draco laughed.

_finis_.


End file.
